Thermoelectric conversion module and method for manufacturing thermoelectric conversion module

ABSTRACT

A thermoelectric conversion module includes a laminated body including a plurality of thermoelectric components laminated therein. Each of the thermoelectric components includes an insulating layer, and a thermoelectric conversion element section in which a plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and a plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers are arranged on the insulating layer in a series connection. A step eliminating insulating material layer is arranged to eliminate a step between the thermoelectric conversion element section and a vicinity thereof, in a region between the insulating layers adjacent to each other in a laminating direction, around the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers constituting the thermoelectric conversion element section. The thermoelectric conversion element section has a serpentine shape. Thicknesses of the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers constituting the thermoelectric conversion element section are greater than the thickness of the insulating layer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a thermoelectric conversion module anda method for manufacturing the thermoelectric conversion module.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, thermoelectric conversion techniques for convertingheat to electricity have been advanced. Particularly, in recent years,for the purpose of preventing global warming, the reduction in carbondioxide has become a critical issue, and thermoelectric conversionmodules that are able to convert heat directly to electricity have beenattracting attention as one of the effective waste heat recoverytechniques.

One of such thermoelectric conversion modules is configured to havemultiple thermoelectric conversion element sections laminated with aninsulating layer interposed therebetween, in which a plurality of n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers and a plurality of p-typethermoelectric conversion material layers are provided in a serpentineshape (zigzag shape) so that multiple p-n junctions are arranged inseries, achieving that the sum of thermal electromotive forces generatedin the respective p-n junctions can be extracted (see FIGS. 1 and 2 ofJapanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-177154)

Such a thermoelectric module is manufactured by, for example, a methodas described below.

First, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a thermoelectric component sheet 55is prepared and includes p-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers (patterns) 52 and n-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers (patterns) 53 formed by printing each of a Ni paste for theformation of n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and a Cupaste for the formation of p-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers to have a predetermined width (for example, 150 μm) and a printedwidth (for example, 20 μm) on the principal surface of a insulator greensheet 51 with a predetermined thickness (for example, 50 μm).

Then, the thermoelectric component sheet 55 is laminated as shown inFIG. 9, followed by pressure bonding, and an uncalcined laminated body54 a obtained is calcined.

This method provides a calcined laminated body 54 (FIG. 10) which has astructure obtained by laminating the multiple thermoelectric components55 each provided with a thermoelectric conversion element section 58composed of p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 52 andn-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 53 connected in serieswith the insulating layer 51 interposed therebetween.

Then, as shown in FIG. 10, external electrodes 57 a, 57 b are formed onthe calcined laminated body 54 so as to provide conduction to thethermoelectric conversion element sections 58 (FIGS. 8A and 8B).

The thus obtained thermoelectric conversion module 60 (FIG. 10) isprovided and used in a mode, for example, with an edge surface 56 a sideas a higher temperature side and an edge surface 56 b side as a lowertemperature side, perpendicular to the principal surface of theinsulating layer obtained by the calcination of the insulator greensheet 51 described above.

Meanwhile, in the thermoelectric conversion module 60 configured asdescribed above, it is necessary to increase the occupancy of thethermoelectric conversion materials in the thermoelectric conversionmodule (the ratio of the area occupied by the thermoelectric conversionmaterials in a plane perpendicular to the direction of a temperaturedifference caused in the thermoelectric conversion module) in order toincrease the output per unit area of the module (plane area of theproduct). For that purpose, it is necessary to increase the thicknessesof the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion materials in relationto the thickness of the insulating layer.

However, as in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-177154described above, in the case of the method of laminating, on aninsulator green sheet, sheets with p-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial patterns and n-type thermoelectric conversion material patternsformed, increase in thickness the p-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial patterns and n-type thermoelectric conversion material patternsis likely to cause deviation of the lamination and deformation in thestep of laminating or pressure bonding. In particular, when the p-typethermoelectric conversion material patterns and n-type thermoelectricconversion material patterns are increased in thickness more than theinsulator green sheet, deviation of the lamination and deformation areeasily caused, and in fact, it is the case that it is not possible toincrease the thicknesses of the thermoelectric conversion materiallayers more than the thickness of the insulating layer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problems described above, preferred embodiments ofthe present invention provide a smaller thermoelectric conversion modulewhich provides higher outputs and electromotive forces without causingdeviation of lamination or deformation even when p-type thermoelectricconversion material layers and n-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers are increased in thickness in order to increase the occupancy ofthe thermoelectric conversion materials, as well as a method formanufacturing the thermoelectric conversion module.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, athermoelectric conversion module includes a laminated body including aplurality of thermoelectric components laminated therein, wherein thethermoelectric components each include an insulating layer and athermoelectric conversion element section in which a p-typethermoelectric conversion material layer and an n-type thermoelectricconversion material layer are arranged in a series connection on theinsulating layer, and a step eliminating insulating material layer isarranged to eliminate a step between the thermoelectric conversionelement section and a vicinity thereof, in a region sandwiched betweenthe insulating layers adjacent to each other in a laminating direction,around the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and then-type thermoelectric conversion material layers constituting thethermoelectric conversion element section.

In the thermoelectric conversion module according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention, preferably, the plurality of p-typethermoelectric conversion material layers and the plurality of n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers are alternately arranged in anelectrically series connection to constitute a serpentine-shapedthermoelectric conversion element section.

Further, in the thermoelectric conversion module according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention, preferably, thicknessesof the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers constituting thethermoelectric conversion element section preferably are greater than athickness of the insulating layer.

The step eliminating insulating material layer preferably includes amaterial which has a same composition as or a similar composition tothat of an insulating material constituting the insulating layer.

In a method for manufacturing a thermoelectric conversion moduleaccording to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, themethod includes the steps of arranging p-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial patterns and n-type thermoelectric conversion material patternsin a series connection on a principal surface of a insulator green sheetto form a thermoelectric conversion element section pattern to serve asa thermoelectric conversion element section after calcination, providinga step eliminating insulating material on a region of the principalsurface of the insulator green sheet in which none of the p-typethermoelectric conversion material and n-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial is formed, in such a way that steps between surfaces of thep-type thermoelectric conversion material patterns and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material patterns and the principal surface ofthe insulator green sheet are substantially eliminated, thereby formingthermoelectric component sheets, laminating and pressure-bonding thethermoelectric component sheets to form a laminated body, and calciningthe laminated body.

In the method for manufacturing a thermoelectric conversion moduleaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,preferably, the plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion materialpatterns and the plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers preferably are alternately arranged in an electrically seriesconnection to form a serpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversion elementsection pattern.

Further, in the method for manufacturing a thermoelectric conversionmodule according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,preferably, thicknesses of the p-type thermoelectric conversion materialpatterns and the n-type thermoelectric conversion material patterns arepreferably greater than a thickness of the insulator green sheet.

As the step eliminating insulating material layer, preferably, amaterial is used which has a same composition as or a similarcomposition to that of an insulating material constituting the insulatorgreen sheet.

In the thermoelectric conversion module according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention, a step eliminating insulatingmaterial layer is provided to eliminate a step between thethermoelectric conversion element section and a vicinity thereof, in aregion sandwiched between the insulating layers adjacent to each otherin the laminating direction, around the p-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial layers and the n-type thermoelectric conversion material layersconstituting the thermoelectric conversion element section. Therefore,the thicknesses of the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layersand the n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers can be madegreater with no deviation of the lamination or deformation, therebyallowing the occupancy of the thermoelectric conversion materials to beimproved and thus realizing a smaller thermoelectric conversion modulewhich provides higher outputs and electromotive forces.

When the plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion material layersand the plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion material layersare alternately arranged in an electrically series connection toconstitute the serpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversion elementsection, the density (wiring density) of providing the thermoelectricconversion element section on the insulating layer is improved to allowthe occupancy of the thermoelectric conversion materials to beincreased, and further to realize a thermoelectric conversion modulewhich provides much higher outputs.

Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, evenwhen the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers are increased in thickness, nodeviation of the lamination or deformation will be caused. Therefore, itis possible to increase the thicknesses of the p-type thermoelectricconversion material layers and n-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers constituting the thermoelectric conversion element section morethan the thickness of the insulating layer, and in that case, it will bepossible to obtain a much smaller and higher-performance thermoelectricconversion module.

Furthermore, when a layer composed of a material which has the samecomposition as or a similar composition to that of the insulatingmaterial constituting the insulating layer is used as the stepeliminating insulating material layer, the types of raw materials arereduced in number to allow the manufacturing process to be simplified,and defects such as delamination due to differences in expansion andcontraction behavior in the calcination step are prevented from beingcaused to allow a highly reliable thermoelectric conversion module to bemanufactured efficiently.

Furthermore, according to the method for manufacturing a thermoelectricconversion module according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a step eliminating insulating material is provided on aregion of the principal surface of the insulator green sheet in whichnone of the p-type thermoelectric conversion materials and the n-typethermoelectric conversion materials is formed, thereby forming athermoelectric component sheet which is nearly uniform in thicknesswithout steps, and such sheets are laminated to form a laminated body.Therefore, even when the p-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers and the n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers areincreased in thickness, no deviation of the lamination or deformationwill be caused, thereby allowing the thermoelectric conversion moduleaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention to bemanufactured efficiently and reliably.

Furthermore, when the plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial layers and the plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial layers are alternately arranged in an electrically seriesconnection to constitute the serpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversionelement section, the density (wiring density) of the thermoelectricconversion element section on the insulating layer is improved to allowthe occupancy of the thermoelectric conversion materials to beincreased, and further to realize a thermoelectric conversion modulewhich provides much higher outputs.

Furthermore, when the p-type thermoelectric conversion material patternsand the n-type thermoelectric conversion material patterns provided onthe principal surface of the insulating sheet are increased in thicknessmore than the thickness of the insulator green sheet, it will bepossible to manufacture a higher-performance and smaller thermoelectricconversion module in which the p-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers and the n-type thermoelectric conversion material layersconstituting the thermoelectric element section have greater thicknessesthan the thickness of the insulating layer.

Furthermore, when a material which has the same composition as or asimilar composition to that of the insulating material constituting theinsulator green sheet is used as the step eliminating insulatingmaterial, the types of raw materials are reduced in number to allow themanufacturing process to be simplified, and defects such as delaminationdue to differences in expansion and contraction behavior in thecalcination step are prevented to allow a high reliable thermoelectricconversion module to be manufactured efficiently.

Other elements, features, steps, characteristics and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a thermoelectric conversionmodule according to an example of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the thermoelectric conversion modulein FIG. 1 along the line A-A.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a thermoelectric component constitutinga thermoelectric conversion module according to an example of apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view eachillustrating a state in which a p-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial is printed on an insulator green sheet in a step of a methodfor manufacturing a thermoelectric conversion module according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view eachillustrating a state in which an n-type thermoelectric conversionmaterial is printed on the insulator green sheet to form athermoelectric conversion element section in a step of the method formanufacturing a thermoelectric conversion module according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view eachillustrating a thermoelectric component formed by printing an insulatingmaterial (insulator paste) for step eliminating on a region of theinsulator green sheet in which none of the n-type and p-typethermoelectric conversion materials is printed, in a step of the methodfor manufacturing a thermoelectric conversion module according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an uncalcined laminated body formed bylaminating the thermoelectric components shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view eachschematically illustrating a thermoelectric component constituting aconventional thermoelectric conversion module.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state of a laminated body formed bylaminating the thermoelectric components shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in astep of manufacturing the conventional thermoelectric conversion module.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the conventionalthermoelectric conversion module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The features of the present invention will be described below in moredetail in connection with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a thermoelectric conversionmodule according to an example of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along the lineA-A, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a thermoelectric componentconstituting the thermoelectric conversion module.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, such a thermoelectric conversion module 20 hasa structure in which a laminated body 10 formed by laminating multiplethermoelectric components 1 (FIG. 3) is provided on end surfaces 11 a,11 b thereof opposed to each other with a pair of external electrodes 7a, 7 b.

The thermoelectric components 1 each include an insulating layer 2, aplurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 3 and aplurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 4 formedon the surface of the insulating layer 2, as shown in FIG. 3, and theplurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 3 and theplurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 4 arealternately connected electrically in series to constitute aserpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversion element section 5.

Further, in this thermoelectric conversion module 20, a step eliminatinginsulating material layer 6 (FIG. 2) is arranged to eliminate stepsbetween the thermoelectric conversion element section 5 and itsvicinity, in a region R (FIGS. 2, 3) sandwiched between the insulatinglayers 2 adjacent to each other in the laminating direction, around thep-type thermoelectric conversion material layers 3 and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers 4 constituting thethermoelectric conversion element section 5.

Furthermore, the thermoelectric component 1 constituting thethermoelectric conversion module 20 includes a first drawing section 8 aand a second drawing section 8 b respectively for electricallyconnecting one end of the serpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversionelement section 5 to the end of the insulating layer 2 and forconnecting the other end of the thermoelectric conversion elementsection 5 to the other end of the insulating layer 2.

In addition, the external electrodes 7 a, 7 b described above areelectrically connected individually to the first drawing section 8 a andthe second drawing section 8 b.

Manufacturing Method

Next, a method for manufacturing the thermoelectric conversion moduleaccording to an example a preferred embodiment of the present inventionwill be described.

Manufacture of Insulator Green Sheet

(1) An insulator raw material composed of BaCO₃, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂ weighedto have predetermined compounding ratios was wet ground in a ball millfor approximately 20 hours with zirconia balls as media.

(2) After this mixture was calcined at about 850° C. to about 950° C.and subjected to wet grinding, an organic binder was added, followed bykneading to form into a sheet by a doctor blade method, therebyobtaining an insulator green sheet of about 25 μm in thickness.

Preparation of Insulating Material (Insulator Paste) for StepElimination

(1) In the same way as in the case of manufacturing the insulator greensheet described above, an insulator raw material composed of BaCO₃,Al₂O₃, and SiO₂ weighed to have predetermined compounding ratios was wetground in a ball mill for approximately 20 hours with zirconia balls asmedia.

(2) Then, this mixture was calcined at about 850° C. to about 950° C.and subjected to wet grinding to give slurry.

(3) The obtained slurry was dried by a drier, followed by adding varnishand a solvent and kneading in a three roll mill, thereby manufacturingan insulator paste.

The insulating material constituting this insulator paste has the samecomposition as that of the insulating material constituting theinsulator green sheet described above.

Manufacture of p-type and n-type Thermoelectric Conversion Materials(Thermoelectric Conversion Material Pastes)

Copper metal powder as a p-type thermoelectric conversion material andconstantan metal powder as an n-type thermoelectric conversion materialwere prepared, followed by adding predetermined amounts of varnish and asolvent to each of the powders and kneading in a three roll mill,thereby manufacturing a copper paste and a constantan paste.

The copper paste and constantan paste were printed and calcined to forma p-type thermoelectric conversion material layer and an n-typethermoelectric conversion material layer.

Formation of Thermoelectric Conversion Material Patterns onto InsulatorGreen Sheet

(1) First, the insulator green sheet was punched into a predeterminedsize, and a p-type thermoelectric conversion material (copper paste) 3 awas applied on an insulator green sheet 2 a, as shown in FIGS. 4A and4B.

(2) Next, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, an n-type thermoelectricconversion material (constantan paste) 4 a was screen-printed in such away that 25 pairs of p-n junctions are arranged in series to form aserpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversion element section 5 a.

It is to be noted that the printed thicknesses of the copper paste andthe constantan paste as the thermoelectric conversion materials eachhave three levels of thicknesses, about 20 μm, about 40 μm, and about 60μm, and predetermined thicknesses were obtained by a method such asrepeated printing a plurality of times.

(3) Next, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, an insulating material (insulatorpaste) 6 a for step eliminating, prepared as described above, wasscreen-printed on a region R of the insulator green sheet 2 a in whichnone of the copper paste 3 a and the constantan paste 4 a was notapplied, so as to eliminate steps caused by the application of thecopper paste 3 a and the constantan paste 4 a, thereby forming anuncalcined thermoelectric component 1 a.

Manufacture and Calcination of Laminated Body, and Formation of ExternalElectrode

(1) Then, a predetermined number (20 sheets in this example) of theobtained thermoelectric components 1 a were laminated andpressure-bonded to manufacture an uncalcined laminated body 10 a (FIG.7).

(2) Then, this laminated body 10 a was calcined in a reducing atmosphereat about 980° C. for about 0.5 hours.

(3) Then, a conductive paste containing silver powder as a conductivecomponent was applied on the opposite end faces 11 a, 11 b of thecalcined laminated body 10, and baked to form external electrodes 7 a, 7b for output power extraction, thereby obtaining a thermoelectricconversion module 20 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

It is to be noted that by way of comparison, a thermoelectric conversionmodule of a comparative example was manufactured in the same way as inthe example described above, except that an insulating material(insulator paste) for step eliminating was not printed so as toeliminate steps caused by the application of the copper paste and theconstantan paste.

Evaluation

The thermoelectric conversion modules manufactured as described abovewere used as samples to evaluate the states of deviation of thelamination and the magnitudes of the output per unit area.

Evaluation Method of Deviation of Lamination

The surface parallel to the direction in which the temperaturedifference was caused was polished, and the states of deviation of thelamination of the internal thermoelectric conversion materials wereobserved through a microscope.

Evaluation Method of Output

One side (high temperature section) of each sample (thermoelectricconversion module) manufactured was heated with a heater as a heatsource, whereas the other side (low temperature section) thereof wascooled with a water-cooled chiller, to form the high temperature sectionand the low temperature section, thereby providing a temperaturedifference to the thermoelectric conversion module. In the state, theexternal electrodes 7 a, 7 b (FIG. 1) of the thermoelectric conversionmodule were irradiated with a probe to measure the maximum output(W_(max)).

The evaluation results obtained as described above are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Thickness Application of of Printed Thickness of InsulatingInsulator Thermoelectric Material Paste Condition Maximum Sample GreenSheet Conversion Material for Step of Output Number (um) (um)eliminating Lamination (W_(max))  1* 25 20 No ◯ 10.7 mW/cm²  2* 25 40 NoX —  3* 25 60 No X — 4 25 20 Yes ◯ 10.8 mW/cm² 5 25 40 Yes ◯ 16.7 mW/cm²6 25 60 Yes ◯ 28.4 mW/cm² It is to be noted that in Table 1, the stateof the lamination was evaluated as defective (X) when deviation of thelamination is caused to damage the characteristics, or as favorable (◯)when such deviation of the lamination is not caused.

As shown in Table 1, in the cases of sample numbers 1 to 3 of thecomparative examples with no insulating material for step eliminating(insulator paste) printed, when the p-type and n-type thermoelectricconversion materials have a printed thickness of about 20 μm and thinnerthan the thickness (about 25 μm) of the insulator green sheet (samplenumber 1), the occurrence of deviation of the lamination was notobserved. However, when the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversionmaterials have a printed thickness of about 40 μm or about 60 μm andthicker than the thickness (about 25 μm) of the insulator green sheet(sample number 2 or 3), deviation of the lamination occurred, resultingin the inability to evaluate the output.

In contrast, in the cases of the samples of sample numbers 4 to 6according to the example of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention with the insulating material for step eliminating (insulatorpaste) printed, no deviation of the lamination occurred in either case,and it was confirmed that the output of about 16.7 mW/cm² was obtainedin the case of the sample 5 with the p-type and n-type thermoelectricconversion materials having a printed thickness of about 40 μm, whereasthe output of about 28.4 mW/cm² was obtained in the case of the sample 6with the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion materials having aprinted thickness of about 60 μm.

It is to be noted that the occurrence of deviation of the lamination wasnot observed in either case of the sample of sample number 1 with noinsulating material for step eliminating printed or the sample of samplenumber 4 with the insulating material for step eliminating printed whenthe p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion materials have a printedthickness of about 20 μm and thinner than the thickness of the insulatorgreen sheet. However, since the thermoelectric conversion materials havethe thinner printed thickness of about 20 μm, the obtained output wassmaller.

Therefore, if a sufficient output is to be obtained, it is necessary toincrease the printed thickness of the thermoelectric conversionmaterials. In such a case, deviation of the lamination will be caused inthe conventional configurations (sample numbers 2 and 3) with noinsulating material for step eliminating printed, thereby resulting inthe inability to obtain a thermoelectric conversion module which is ableto provide desirable outputs, while in the case of the samples (samplenumbers 5 and 6) according to the example of a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention with the step elimination insulating materialprinted, no deviation of the lamination will be caused even when thethermoelectric conversion material is increased in printed thickness,thereby realizing a thermoelectric conversion module which provideshigher outputs in a meaningful manner.

It is to be noted that, while in the example described above, the caseof the serpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversion element sectionincluding the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers connected in series has been described as an example, thethermoelectric conversion element section can also have other shapes.

Furthermore, while in the example described above, the case has beendescribed as an example, in which the insulating material constitutingthe insulating material layer for eliminating steps preferably has thesame composition as that of the insulating material constituting theinsulating layer, an insulating material differing from the insulatingmaterial constituting the insulating layer can alternatively be used asthe insulating material constituting the step eliminating insulatingmaterial layer.

Further, the present invention is not to be considered limited to theexamples and preferred embodiments described above, also in terms of theother aspects, and various applications and modifications can be madewithout departing from the scope of the present invention, as for thespecific conditions such as the types of the p-type and n-typethermoelectric conversion materials, the number of laminatedthermoelectric components, and calcination conditions.

As described above, according to various preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, it is possible to obtain a smaller thermoelectricconversion module which provides higher outputs and electromotive forceswithout causing deviation of lamination or deformation even when thep-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers are increased in thickness inorder to increase the occupancy of the thermoelectric conversionmaterials.

Therefore, preferred embodiments of the present invention can beeffectively used as a thermoelectric conversion device for electricpower generation which converts heat directly to electricity in avariety of fields in which waste heat is generated.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will beapparent to those skilled in the art without departing the scope andspirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention,therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.

1. A thermoelectric conversion module comprising: a laminated bodyincluding a plurality of thermoelectric components laminated; whereineach of the plurality of thermoelectric components includes aninsulating layer and a thermoelectric conversion element section inwhich a p-type thermoelectric conversion material layer and an n-typethermoelectric conversion material layer are arranged in a seriesconnection on the insulating layer; and a step eliminating insulatingmaterial layer arranged to eliminate a step between the thermoelectricconversion element section and a vicinity thereof, in a region betweenthe insulating layers adjacent to each other in a laminating direction,around the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and then-type thermoelectric conversion material layers constituting thethermoelectric conversion element section.
 2. The thermoelectricconversion module according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of p-typethermoelectric conversion material layers and the plurality of n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers are alternately arranged in anelectrically series connection to constitute a serpentine-shapedthermoelectric conversion element section.
 3. The thermoelectricconversion module according to claim 1, wherein thicknesses of thep-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material layers constituting thethermoelectric conversion element section are greater than a thicknessof the insulating layer.
 4. The thermoelectric conversion moduleaccording to claim 1, wherein the step eliminating insulating materiallayer includes a material which has a same composition as or a similarcomposition to that of an insulating material constituting theinsulating layer.
 5. A method for manufacturing a thermoelectricconversion module, the method comprising the steps of: arranging p-typethermoelectric conversion material patterns and n-type thermoelectricconversion material patterns in a series connection on a principalsurface of an insulating green sheet to form a thermoelectric conversionelement section pattern to serve as a thermoelectric conversion elementsection after calcination; providing a step eliminating insulatingmaterial on a region of the principal surface of the insulator greensheet in which none of the p-type thermoelectric conversion material andn-type thermoelectric conversion material is formed, in such a way thatsteps between surfaces of the p-type thermoelectric conversion materialpatterns and the n-type thermoelectric conversion material patterns andthe principal surface of the insulator green sheet are substantiallyeliminated, thereby forming thermoelectric component sheets; laminatingand pressure-bonding the thermoelectric component sheets to form alaminated body; and calcining the laminated body.
 6. The method formanufacturing a thermoelectric conversion module according to claim 5,wherein the plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion materialpatterns and the plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion materiallayers are alternately arranged in an electrically series connection toform a serpentine-shaped thermoelectric conversion element sectionpattern.
 7. The method for manufacturing a thermoelectric conversionmodule according to claim 5, wherein thicknesses of the p-typethermoelectric conversion material patterns and the n-typethermoelectric conversion material patterns are greater than a thicknessof the insulator green sheet.
 8. The method for manufacturing athermoelectric conversion module according to claim 5, wherein as thestep eliminating insulating material layer, a material is used which hasa same composition as or a similar composition to that of an insulatingmaterial constituting the insulating green sheet.